California Telehealth
Most of my practice happens on video, and it is not a compromise version.
How telehealth with me actually works: what you need, what privacy at home looks like, and why the format fits a full schedule. Online only, California only.
Online only, by secure video, Monday through Friday
The Place
What it is actually like here
I am licensed in California only, which means I can see you by secure video anywhere in the state as long as you are physically in California at the time of the session. Sessions run Monday through Friday. There is no in-person option attached to this page: the office day in San Diego is one Sunday a month and is booked separately.
Telehealth is not the reduced version of this work. Anxiety work, EMDR, and couples work all translate to video, and for people with a full calendar it is often the only format that survives a hard month. The hour you do not spend in traffic is the hour that keeps therapy from becoming the first thing you cancel.
At a Glance
- Shelley Davidescu, LMFT, 17 years in practice
- Telehealth Monday through Friday across California
- In person one Sunday a month in Bankers Hill
- Free 15-minute consultation
Individual sessions are $210, or $325 for 90 minutes. Couples sessions are $225, or $345 for 90 minutes.
Full fees and policiesHow Telehealth Works
How telehealth works
You need three things: a private space where nobody can overhear you, a reliable connection, and a device with a camera you can set at eye level. A laptop on a table beats a phone in your hand, mostly because holding a phone keeps one hand busy and your body braced.
Sessions run on a secure video platform. You get a link, you click it at the appointment time, and there is nothing to install and no account to manage. If the connection drops mid-session we reconnect, and if it will not hold we finish by phone.
Privacy at home is the part worth planning. A closed door, headphones, and something making noise outside the room covers most situations. People also use a parked car, an empty conference room, or a session scheduled for a window when the house is empty. If none of those exist, tell me on the consult and we will work it out before we start rather than after.
Why People Write From Here
The pressures particular to this place
The people who choose telehealth with me are mostly people whose schedules are the actual obstacle. Back-to-back days, travel across the state, childcare that only covers certain hours. For them the format is not a preference, it is the difference between doing this work and continuing to intend to.
There is a second group who find video easier to be honest in. Being in your own space, with your own things around you, lowers the stakes of saying the harder sentence. Some people need the room to feel formal before they will speak plainly. A lot of people need the opposite, and only find that out by trying.
The third is people outside San Diego entirely: Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Orange County, the Central Valley, the far north. Good therapy is not evenly distributed across the state, and an LMFT who works with high achievers is not on every corner. Video removes geography from the decision.
Where to Start
Four places this usually begins
Anxiety Therapy
The core of the practice, and entirely workable over video.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR adapts to video, with bilateral stimulation you can do on your own body.
Couples Therapy
Two people, one screen, and no argument about who drives to the appointment.
Stress and Burnout
For the schedule that would otherwise make weekly therapy impossible to sustain.
Questions
Answered plainly
Anything not covered here is worth asking on the free 15-minute consult.
Related Reading
Is telehealth as useful as sitting in the room?
For the work I do, yes, and for a lot of people it is more practical. Anxiety work, EMDR, and couples work all translate to video. What matters more than the format is whether you have a private hour and a door that closes. If you do not have that at home, we will talk about where else the hour could happen.
Which states can you work in?
California only. I hold a California LMFT license, and you need to be physically located in California during the session. If you move out of state, we will talk about referrals rather than continuing.
How often can I be seen in person?
In-person sessions are limited. I hold one Sunday a month at the Bankers Hill office, and those slots are booked ahead. Everything else runs by secure video, Monday through Friday. Most of my clients are telehealth clients from the first session onward, and the work is not a lesser version of the room.
Does EMDR work over video?
Yes. The bilateral stimulation is done with your own hands or with on-screen movement, and the protocol is otherwise the same. What matters most is that you have a private space and enough time after the session to settle before your next thing.
What if I do not have a private space at home?
That is worth solving before the first session, not during it. A parked car, a closed office, a room with noise outside it, or a session timed for when the house is empty all work. Bring it up on the consult and we will find something workable.
Free 15-Minute Consult
Fifteen minutes to find out whether this is the right work.
Tell me what is going on and where you are in California. I will tell you honestly how I would approach it, and whether I am the right person for it.
In person in San Diego, and by telehealth across California.